Dear Editor:
In response to the furor over the outsourcing of computer programing jobs, the
inability to bring in needed H-1B workers, misuse of the L-1 program
and the like, perhaps it is time to step back and look at the overall
policies in Washington and determine exactly what the priorities and
purposes are of these policies.
First a few facts.
Product of all types can be manufactured overseas and sold in the US
without
regard to the wages that would have to be paid to US workers if the
product
was made here. As a result we now have a "service economy" because
it does not
make sense for most manufacturers to build product here. The wages
paid in
China, Bangladesh and the like are so small in comparison to the
wages paid in
the US, that a manufacturer in the US cannot compete with these
foreign made
goods.
Strangely, the fact that Washington keeps prevailing wages at a level
that
allows US workers to enjoy a reasonable standard of living results in
the flow
of jobs overseas. The corollary to this policy should be to protect
domestic
jobs by forcing the price of imported goods to reflect the price of
production
if the goods were made in America. The present policy is the
affirmation of
the principle that any and all goods can be "dumped," to use a labor
term, into
the American market and that dumping these goods is allowed to
destroy
American industry.
Having allowed the major companies to succeed in destroying American
production of many consumer goods, Congress has moved on to allowing
the major
companies to destroy the "service economy". Rather than allow the
growth of American
service, Congress has seen fit to allow the mass importation of work
product
without regularizing the price in terms of American labor. The major
companies are happy not to have the work done here. It is done
overseas at a fraction
of the cost, and allowed to be brought in without an equalizing duty.
So, if product production jobs are shipped
overseas
and the products allowed to be dumped here, at the cost of US
workers; and service jobs are shipped overseas and the work allowed
to be dumped
at the cost of
US workers; what jobs are left, who is being serviced and who is
watching out
for our interests?
I have an interest in immigration. I bring foreign nurses to the US
to work
in our medical facilities. The nurses all join the union, if there
is one,
become citizens as soon as legally possible and contribute to our
economy and to
our general health. These nurses are not the enemy of either the
anti-immigrationists or the unions.
Our real enemy is our leaders who allow foreign workers to take
American jobs
without regard to the effect on our economy, and allow the major
companies to
profit off of this policy. These workers are paid very low wages and
they
never come to the US to spend their wages or must pay our
taxes.
They are allowed to prey on our economy without having to contribute.
Only their
work product comes to the US, and there is little or no tax on that.